KDSN Radio

Water connection to Council Bluffs almost ready to help rural Southwest Iowa communities

(Daily Nonpareil) - An additional water source for parts of Pottawattamie County and other nearby communities should be up and flowing in a few days, according to an official of the Regional Water Rural Water Association on Friday. Meanwhile, a Level Red advisory requiring restrictions on some water usage remains in effect for those regions.  Residents served by the Regional Water Rural Water Association are being asked to conserve water due to continued drought conditions plus customers' sustained water usage.  The new water source involves a pipeline bringing water from Council Bluffs to a temporary booster station serving the association’s Avoca Treatment Plant system near Minden.  While workers this week were removing “airlocks” out of the pipeline that restrict water flow, they found another issue and need to do “a repiping of the booster station site.  The pipe that was used was too small so about 100  feet of pipe will need to be replaced.  They are working on getting the necessary parts to bring the temporary booster station online and will have the water running as soon as possible.  Once the connection is turned on, it may take an additional 24 to 36 hours to get the Council Bluffs water flowing to its maximum capacity, he said, so restrictions may not be immediately adjusted.  Following the recent installation of the 18.5-mile pipeline, tests on water pressure and bacteria were taken and passed.  The association built the pipeline with funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It will provide nearly 25% more water for the members and customers of the association’s Avoca Treatment Plant system that covers parts of northern Pottawattamie County, as well as Shelby, Audubon, Cass and Harrison counties. Communities served by the plant include Avoca, Persia, Panama, Portsmouth, Westphalia, Kirkman, Tennant, Earling, Exira and Brayton.  The primary source, however, will continue to come from association wells.  All towers are maintaining adequate pressure.  They are currently pumping 760 GPM (gallons per minute) from the plant with all wells on, including our backup wells. This is 100% of our available water. This is why they are still in Alert Level Red.”  The advisory was issued on June 14 after water levels at its towers dipped below 50% due to a long drought and higher-than-normal demand, Kallman said.  Customers immediately reduced usage to where the water levels in the towers climbed into the 60% range.  This additional water source may not necessarily eliminate, but should help to reduce any future water restrictions or boil water advisories,   It should also ease pressure on the association’s plant, which has been running 24 hours for almost 80 days this year.  The pipeline should bring in about 175,000 gallons of water each day to the booster station.   When a new, permanent station is completed this fall, that amount should increase to 400,000 gallons.